THE European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that whole life jail terms without the possibility of review amount to a breach of human rights.

Europe's human rights judges have said killers' life terms 'breached their human rights'

The court found that for a life sentence to remain compatible with the ECHR there had to be both a possibility of release and review.

However, it insisted this did not mean there was "any prospect of imminent release".

Murderer Jeremy Bamber and two other killers, Douglas Vinter and Peter Moore, today won an appeal in the court that their sentences were not compatible with their human rights.

Judges at ECHR had disagreed with the killers in January, but today sided with the men who argued their sentences were "inhuman and degrading."

Peter Moore who killed four gay men for his sexual gratification in 1995

The move will determine whether it is lawful for the UK to have an unreviewable whole-life tariff

However, the panel of 17 judges added: "In finding a violation in this case, however, the court did not intend to give the applicants any prospect of imminent release."

The appeal was brought before the Grand Chamber by Vinter, who stabbed his wife in February 2008, and also considered the cases of Bamber, who killed his parents, sister and her two young children in August 1985, and Peter Moore, who killed four gay men for his sexual gratification in 1995.

The significant move will ultimately determine whether it is lawful for the UK to have an unreviewable whole-life tariff - recently handed down to five-year-old April Jones' killer Mark Bridger.

Under current law, whole-life tariff prisoners will almost certainly never be released from prison as their offences are deemed to be so serious.

They can be freed only by the Justice Secretary, who can give discretion on compassionate grounds when the prisoner is terminally ill or seriously incapacitated.

Now, Britons have responded furiously to the decision, taking to Twitter to voice their outrage.

One user, Luke Hughes, said: "They gave up their human rights by killing someone!"

"People with whole life sentences are dangerous criminals,they shouldn't have the option of release!", Laura Maslin argued, while Bryony Burnham angrily wrote: "NO, NO AND NO. What about the rights of the victim? It is their families that are doing the life sentence."

Nick de Bois, the Conservative MP for Enfield North said: "UK courts should decide whole life sentences not ECHR."